First lady helps Nita Lowey raise $1 million

May 25, 1999
Web posted at: 12:18 a.m. EDT (0418 GMT)

NEW YORK (AllPolitics, May 25) -- First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton completed her ninth visit to New York state this year by helping fellow Democrat U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey fill her congressional campaign coffers.

Monday's $1,000-a-plate dinner celebrating Lowey's 10 years in the House of Representatives raised approximately $1 million, according to Lowey's staff.

About 700 people attended the dinner while other donors sent in checks.

"We are united and we are confident that on November 7, 2000, New York will elect its first woman to the United States Senate," said Lowey.

Lowey is preparing to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan next year -- unless Mrs. Clinton decides to enter the race herself. Any money Lowey has raised for her congressional re-election, such as Monday's $1 million, could legally be shifted over to a Senate race.

"She is a gift not only to her district but to New York and the whole country," Mrs. Clinton said of Lowey, without revealing any clues how she's leaning on the race.

Mrs. Clinton is expected to announce the formation of an "exploratory committee" when she returns from the Memorial Day holiday she starts Tuesday with the president in Florida.

Earlier in the day, Republican Gov. George Pataki said Mrs. Clinton, not being a native New Yorker, should not enter the race.

"We have great talented, elected officials right here in New York City and New York state. We don't need somebody from Washington coming to New York to represent this state," Pataki said at a news conference where he endorsed the presidential bid of Texas Gov. George W. Bush.